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Norwich City spend £2.3m on agents in the last year according to Premier League figures

Paddy Davitt

Published: 9:23 AM December 1, 2013 Updated: 2:31 PM October 10, 2020

Norwich City striker Gary Hooper was one of the new arrivals in a record-breaking summer transfer window for the Canaries. Picture by Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd

Norwich City's record summer transfer outlay saw a £1m increase in the amount they spent on agents' fees over the past 12 months, according to figures released by the Premier League.

The Canaries spent £2,308,987 in the period from October 1 2012 to September 30 2013 - a figure that had risen from £1,248,725 in the corresponding 12 month period. City's outlay on agents' fees ranks them 14th out of the 20 Premier League clubs in a list topped by Chelsea who spent £13.7m in a record total of £96m spent across the entire top flight following the impact of new multi-billion pound broadcast deals during the summer.

Norwich's spending covered two transfer windows (January 2013 and summer 2013) where the club made seven permanent signings in addition to the arrival of Carlo Nash on a free transfer. The Canaries' smashed their transfer record to recruit Sporting Lisbon's Ricky van Wolfswinkel along with Celtic striker Gary Hooper, who scored his second Premier League goal for the club in Saturday's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Martin Olsson, Leroy Fer and Nathan Redmond also featured in the win over the Eagles, along with Johan Elmander who is on a season-long loan move from Turkish outfit Galatasaray.

Chelsea's spending on agents' fees reflects their transfer market activity following the return of Jose Mourinho as manager. Manchester City, who had spent more on fees than anyone else for the previous two years, spent £11m while champions Manchester United spent £4m despite struggling to add to their squad in the summer transfer window. In total, clubs paid £19m more than last year to agents following the increase in revenue from the new television deal. Crystal Palace were the only club to spend less than a million on fees, paying £869,532 to agents.

Chelsea recruited Andre Schurrle, Willian and Samuel Eto'o during the close season to help their title challenge, while the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini as Manchester City manager prompted the recruitment of Jesus Navas, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo. Tottenham paid £9m in agents fees having spent heavily to expand their squad following Gareth Bale's record-breaking transfer to Real Madrid, bringing in players like Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela. By contrast, Manchester United made only one major signing following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, with Marouane Fellaini joining from Everton on deadline day. Southampton, one of the surprise packages of the season, spent £2m on fees.